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HALF-TERMLY NEWSLETTER
Hodge Hill Girls’ School February 2017 Educating Tomorrow’s Women Today
INSIDE
HHGS
Internet Safety
Phenomenal Physics
Scientific Workshops
School Council Environment Project
Young Voices at the Genting Arena
and much more!
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Dear Parent(s) and Carer(s),
Welcome to our February newsletter, the first of 2017. Despite some cold and lots of wet
weather we have had a busy start to the term with the Year 11 Parent Consultation Evening,
the Young Voices Choir singing at the
Genting Arena, the Colomendy
Residential, curriculum visitors and a
host of sporting events to name but a
few. We have also participated in
Internet Safety Day and Holocaust
Memorial Day. Many of you will
remember our project with the Anne
Frank Trust two years ago, but if you
were not involved you might like to
listen to the recordings of the moving
talk given to pupils by Birmingham’s last Holocaust Survivor, Mindu Hornick. These can be
accessed on the home page of our VLE, Frog.
It is always wonderful to start the year with a new
award. As you are aware we recently started working
towards the UNICEF, Rights Respecting Schools
Award. It is fabulous news that we have been
awarded ‘Recognition of Commitment’. Staff and
pupils are now busy working towards the Level One
Award.
Year 11 It was really helpful to meet so many families of Year
11 pupils at the Parent Consultation Evening on
January 9th, 2017. There are many changes in GCSE
courses, we have English and Mathematics using the
new grade structure 9 – 1 with 9 being the equivalent
of a AA*. There are limited sample papers and
resources in the first year of any new course and I am sure you will join me in thanking staff
for all their additional work with revision groups before and after school. Other subjects will
move to the new system over the next two years.
Girls are now attending post 16 interviews and we were pleased to welcome staff from
Joseph Chamberlain College for the day on Wednesday, 25th January 2017 to conduct
interviews here on site, rather than having large numbers of girls missing lessons to travel
to the college. Many of our girls already have several offers and all are working hard to meet
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the criteria set for individual courses. The Prom Committee have also started planning for
their ‘big event’ and we look forward to their success.
Year 10 Year 10 are continuing to work hard and making good progress. They have started to work
on their Personal Statements, in preparation for college applications early in Year 11.
Several pupils have completed a work experience in their own time and many are taking on
additional responsibilities in school, such as prefect duties, mentoring younger pupils and
helping to deliver school assemblies.
Several pupils have participated in a First Aid workshop led by the Red Cross. Haleema
explains more about this valuable workshop later in this newsletter. The girls are now
feeling confident to manage a medical situation while waiting for a professional to arrive.
Years 7, 8 and 9 Years 7, 8 and 9 have been involved in a number of additional activities this term with many
taking part in the Young Voices Concert at the Genting Arena. Pupils from Years 7 to 9
enjoyed an exhilarating and challenging outdoor education residential in Wales at the
Colomendy Centre. It is wonderful to hear our pupils talking enthusiastically about these
experiences.
A group of Year 7 and 8 pupils have attended a 6 week course with the School Nurse, which
looked at ways pupils could build up their self-confidence and increase resilience. Pupils
really enjoyed the activities to the point that they wanted to take the course again. A second
group are nearing completion of the course.
We are looking at ways of expanding the role of Receptionist for Year 8 pupils and have
asked Faculties if there are any tasks that they would like pupils to help with. At present
they are working alongside the Science Department preparing new student workbooks, and
Modern Foreign Language Department would also like their assistance.
Year 9 have begun the Option Choices process by completing a ‘straw poll’ to indicate areas
of interest and having 1:1 interviews with staff prior to the Options Curriculum Evening after
half term on 28th February 2017. This will be followed by the Year 9 Parent Consultation
Evening on 6th March 2017.
Kind regards,
Mrs E Brown
Headteacher
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Letter from the Chair of Governors Dear Parent(s) and Carer(s),
Welcome to our February newsletter. Governors have met twice during this half term and
have been working on our next assessment for our renewal of the Schools Financial Value
Standard and our preparations for Governor Mark Assessment.
In our strategic role we have examined financial data provided by the Department for
Education (DfE) Benchmarking Website in comparison to schools which are identified as a
statistical match by the DfE. Using a three year analysis period from 2013 – 2016 we find
that our Delegated Budget has reduced by 3% despite having stable pupil numbers at 750.
Spending on staffing is in line with comparator schools and the 2015-16 pupil attainment
data indicates that we significantly achieve the highest average GCSE and equivalent point
score and the second highest percentage of 5A* - C grades including English and
Mathematics in our comparator group. This indicates that funds are used highly effectively
to help pupils make expected, better and exceptional progress. Energy savings have been
made via our investment in an Energy Efficiency Scheme and all budgets are regularly,
reviewed for efficiencies. Increases in staffing costs have been accounted for by rises in
employer contributions to National Insurance and Pensions.
In January this year, the DfE has published a new Handbook for Governance, which we are
exploring in training sessions during the year. In addition, there is also a Framework of
Competences for governors, which details specific responsibilities in different roles – for
example as Chair and as a member of the Governing Board. This is very interesting work
and a great responsibility for all involved.
Finally, I continue to meet with the Head Teacher on alternate Friday afternoons and am
available to meet by appointment with parents at this time. Please contact me via the Clerk
who can be reached by post to the school address. Looking forward to meeting with you at
Parent Consultation Evenings this year.
Yours sincerely,
K Siva Yogaiswaran
Chair of Governors
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Head Girl and
Deputy Head Girl
Hodge Hill Girls’ School is well known for the endless
leadership opportunities available to pupils such as
Enterprise Leader, PHSCE Leader, Sports Leader, ICT
Champion, School Council Rep as well as opportunities to
be charity fundraisers and part of the Home/School
Community partnership. This year for the first time the
school has added a new role in the form of Head Girl and
Deputy Head Girl. A group of Year 11 students put
themselves forward for these prestigious roles and went
through a thorough application and interview process. As
you can imagine it was a very difficult process and all the
applicants should be proud of the way they approached
the process and conducted themselves.
I am pleased to announce that Iqra, (11,BL) is our Head
Girl and Tahreem, (11,DL) is our Deputy Head Girl. Look
out for them proudly wearing their red badges around
school and at school events. They will always be around
helping out and giving a pupil perspective of school life.
They will be supported by a team of Senior Prefects.
Attendance and Punctuality
Regular attendance is an essential part of a pupil’s academic and social success, and we rely
on our partnership with parents and carers to ensure this is achieved. We hope you will all
help us meet our challenge target of 97% this year. Parents and carers are reminded that
medical appointments must, where possible, be made outside the school day.
Current attendance: Year 7 97.06%
Year 8 96.51%
Year 9 95.50%
Year 10 95.92%
Year 11 96.07%
Being punctual is an excellent life-long habit, which together we should be encouraging.
Please ensure your daughter arrives at school by 8.35am. Pupils should to be in their form
room by 8.40am. At 8.45am the school bell rings and the official start to the school day
begins.
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Charities
A huge thank you for the generous donations to our collections of toys, books and
chocolates for families supported by Trident and to everyone who supported our December
2016 fundraising for ActionAid, which raised a fabulous £740.46 to support ActionAid's work
with some of the poorest people in the world
On Friday, 16 December 2016, the schools’ final day of term, Liam Byrne MP, accompanied
by Tim Boyes, Chief Executive Officer at Birmingham Education Partnership and
representatives from Trident Reach, visited our school to see the charity work carried out
by the pupils. Surrounded by the donations for Trident from both Hodge Hill Girls’ School
and Hodge Hill Primary School, our visitors also read our pupils moving letters regarding
Water Aid and Liam Byrne took copies with him to share at Parliament. Below are a couple
of quotes that we take great pleasure in sharing with you.
“We are so grateful to both Hodge Hill
Girls’ School and Hodge Hill Primary
School for arranging these collections
and promoting the work that our charity
does. This has especially raised
awareness of our Birmingham based
Homeless Services and Domestic Abuse
Services, to the younger generation. The
schools support has been phenomenal
and through the donations, they have
made a real difference to peoples’ lives
over the festive period and beyond. This
partnership working has been very
humbling. We acknowledge all the hard
work the children and the staff have put
into this appeal and want to say a huge
thank you to them all.” (Marie Calder, Customer Engagement Officer for Trident Group.)
“Massive well done to Hodge Hill Girls’ & Hodge Hill Primary for the brilliant work collecting
money and food parcels for the homeless and needy this Christmas, working with charity
Trident. You show great young leadership and great compassion, making sure those without
anything get something a little special this Christmas. Thank you for being fantastic!” (Liam
Byrne MP.)
This term we have been collecting warm clothing as we continue to our partnership with
Trident Reach. Thank you for your continued support.
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Phenomenal Physics
Congratulations to our Year 8 pupils who visited Birmingham University to take part in the
Big Physics Quiz on Monday 23rd January 2017. Twelve of our pupils formed three teams of
girls to compete against 17 schools from the Midlands Area, many of which were grammar
schools.
Anisa explained that, on the day after leaving promptly from school they arrived at
Birmingham University and were then escorted into the magnificent Grand Hall where each
of our teams started working on several amusing activities. Once the other schools had all
arrived, the quiz began. It consisted of six rounds with lots of different topics including light,
quantum physics, scientists and lots more. After a day, bursting with fun and enthusiasm
the quiz ended. Anisa’s team came sixth, which she views as brilliant against a lot of
competition, but most importantly by taking part, Anisa continues that, all the team learnt
something new and exciting.
Qudsia found the visit inspirational and she felt it was a fabulous opportunity to learn lots
of interesting information. She also found the activities engaging highlighting that her team
had fun and laughter as they discussed the answers. Qudsia enthused that she would
definitely like the opportunity to repeat the experience for a different subject.
It is fantastic that our teams achieved 6th, 7th and 10th places. Well done to all our pupils
who took part, they are excellent ambassadors for our school through demonstrating
impeccable behaviour. Special thanks to Anisa and Qudsia, who contributed towards this
article.
Colomendy Residential – Wednesday 8th
– Friday 10th February 2017
The annual residential visit to Colomendy in North Wales saw 43 girls from Years 7 to 9 and
5 staff take part in a huge range of activities from caving to zip
wires, and from nightlines to campfires. Pupils were challenged to
go beyond their comfort zones and to work together to solve
many individual and team challenges. We hope to include further
information about our experiences in the next newsletter.
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Science in Action with
the Army
On Wednesday, 11th January 2017, we welcomed the
British Army, who delivered Science workshops to Year 8.
Our pupils considered the challenges the Army faces
providing humanitarian aid and the role science plays in
ensuring their safety and wellbeing during these
operations. In particular, they considered the implications
of completing
hard physical
work in the hot
conditions of Kashmir after the 2005
earthquake. In teams, our pupils designed a vest
that would keep the Army cool and safe while
they worked in the extreme heat to help people
in need. This was an excellent opportunity for
pupils to apply their scientific learning and
creativity to a real problem.
RAF and the Forces
of Flight
As part of our commitment to promoting
opportunities in STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics) subjects, we welcomed the
RAF into school to deliver a presentation
on the ‘Science of Flight’ to groups of
pupils in Years 7, 8, 9 and 11. Part of the
roadshow included the pupils seeing and
hearing a jet engine; certainly, a very loud
experience for all involved! Pupils also
received some information about possible
careers in the RAF. It was lovely to see so
many pupils so engaged and interested in
discussing how aeroplanes stay in the air.
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Year 7 and 8 ‘Getting GCSE Ready’
innScience with E-On Energy
It was wonderful to welcome Sanjay and Maeve from E-On Energy to the school in late
December 2016. They delivered a fabulous interactive workshop on the heart and
circulatory systems to Year 7 and Year 8 pupils. The workshop and activities encouraged
pupils to reflect and think about the
complexity of the human body and the
relationship between our brain, lungs,
heart, circulation and muscles. This is part
of our programme to ensure our pupils are
‘getting ready for GCSE’ courses. It was an
excellent introduction to some of the topics
they will be studying in more depth for their
GCSEs.
Inspiring our Pupils Through Sport
On Thursday, 19th January 2017 Hodge Hill Girls’ School were very luckily to have two World
Champion visitors in association with the Youth Sports Trust and Sky Sports Living. Daniel
Caines, World 800m Champion, and Tom Davis, World Judo Champion, delivered workshops
to pupils within PE lessons. They spoke about their own journey towards success, explaining
how, with determination, they overcame the obstacles encountered to ensure they
achieved in sport.
Daniel and Tom played team and individual games with various groups focussing on
Self-awareness
Building confidence
How to be a successful learner
How to cope with the stresses of
everyday life.
Pupils thoroughly enjoyed the workshops
and had a great time getting autographs
and speaking to Daniel and Tom
throughout the day.
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Red Cross First Aid Workshop –
Wednesday 1st February 2017
We had a huge response to this exciting after-school
enrichment opportunity, with 26 Year 10 and 11 pupils
working alongside staff from the Red Cross to develop an
awareness of First Aid.
The main focus of the session was how to respond to First
Aid emergencies when you do not have traditional First Aid
equipment available; for example, how a jumper could be
used to make a sling.
Haleema (10,A2) explained how they learnt about CPR and
in groups practiced chest compressions on the first aid
dummy. She identified it was important that we pushed
down firmly on the dummy's chest while making sure to
keep our hands central.
She continued to explain that our pupils were
taught what to do in different emergencies. For
example, helping someone with diabetes whose
sugar levels are going down or what to do if
somebody has a burn injury.
Haleema felt that the First Aid training was a
great opportunity for pupils, because it enabled
learning about health and provided skills that
enable our pupils to help people who are in
need.
Thank you to Haleema for submitting her report
on the First Aid training. It does sound like a very
informative and helpful experience.
Further sessions are to
be held in March 2017.
CPR
Hyperthermia
Burns
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School Council Environmental Project
This year, one of the major aims of the
School Council is to improve the school
environment. The School Council Leaders
hold regular meetings with the Form
Representatives from each of our Year
groups. The Pupil Student Leadership Team
conducts meetings with the Form Reps who
provide ideas from their forms regarding
different environmental projects.
Wardah
(11,LL) explained, that as the Environmental Leader, she
is responsible for creating a plan to improve an area of
the school tennis courts. On the upcoming C and A Day,
in March 2017, the School
Council’s plan will come to fruition
as pupils from all year group’s
work together to repaint the
wooden flowerbeds and add
decorated plant pots to the area.
Some of the pupils will be
working outdoors, while some
will be painting indoors. This will
be an interesting project and many are excited to
utilise their art skills to help decorate the area.
Thank you Wardah, for sharing your project in this
newsletter. We look forward to seeing the completed
refurbishment.
City Year
Our City Year team of 7 volunteers plus one Impact Officer are settling in well to their roles
in school. They are supporting learning in classrooms during the timetabled day, and also
providing a range of additional learning opportunities such as the development of
leadership skills and a games club at lunchtimes. They provide additional academic
mentoring support for pupils who may need some extra help with organisation of
equipment and/or homework and also help those who may have been absent and need to
catch up on work missed.
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HHGS Choir at the
Genting Arena
It was an amazing evening when our School Choir
performed at the Genting Arena in the Young Voices
Concert on Wednesday 25th January 2017. This was a
fabulous climax to the many months work and
practice by our pupils. It was brilliant for our choir to
perform at such a large and prestigious venue as part
of an enormous choir, comprising of 6,500 pupils
from
schools across the Midlands Region. With
accompaniment from a wide range of
professional musicians and artists, including
Natalie Williams, the Beatbox Collective and
Tabby Callaghan, they created an amazing
performance and a memorable experience
for the rest of their lives.
Well done girls.
Young Carers
Is your child a carer? At times family circumstances mean that some young people provide
regular care and support to another family member.
Does your child provide regular and ongoing care and support to another family member
as a result of them having a physical or mental illness, a disability, or are struggling with
substance misuse?
Does your child provide practical and /or emotional caring responsibilities that would
normally be expected of an adult?
Spurgeons, a Birmingham based charity are able to offer support for young people who fulfil
the criteria above. In addition, please let Mrs Adu, Deputy Headteacher know if your child
has taken on a carer role so that we can offer additional support in school.
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Internet Safety Day
Tuesday, 7th February 2017, was Internet Safety Day. The aim of the day was to promote the
safe and positive use of digital technology, especially among children and young people.
While as a school we promote the safe use of the internet through our curriculum; Internet
Safety Day provides the opportunity to further raise awareness of online safety issues and
participate in global events and activities. Please ensure that you talk to your daughter
about Internet Safety and the key messages from assemblies and the internet safety
activities completed within school.
This year pupils have designed fabulous emojis
as part of a school wide competition. It is clear
that some of our pupils gave a lot of thought
into what their emojis represented in building
on this year’s theme of “#GIVEASMILE Be the
change: Unite for a better internet”. With
fabulous original designs first place was
awared to Aisha, 7,4 and Aneeja, 7,9, with
second place awarded to Hafsah, 10,IT. Many
of the emoji designs are currently on display in
Reception and have been used as part of the
International Thunderclap on social media
during Internet Safety Day itself.
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Internet Safety Advice for Parents
Internet Safety Day is as much about raising awareness with parents, as it is with children.
Parents have a duty to monitor their child's use of digital technologies, but it can be difficult
keeping up with the latest apps used by children. Here are some tips on how parents can
take steps to keep their family safe online.
NSPCC Net-Aware
Net-Aware provides parents with a searchable database of popular apps and social
networks. Each app is rated for safety by parents, children and NSPCC's safeguarding
specialists. A minimum age is also suggested for each app, based on the risks posed to users.
Parents can use this resource to find out about the safety of apps used by their child, and
take action to protect their child. Go to net-aware.org.uk to find out more.
Parental Controls
Parental controls are an essential tool that can be deployed to help keep the family safe,
and reduce the risk of undesirable content reaching family devices. All the major broadband
providers (BT, Virgin, TalkTalk, Sky) provide free parental controls that can restrict exposure
to harmful content, regardless of the device used in the home. Free parental controls are
also available for all smartphones, tablets, games consoles. Furthermore, free parental
controls can be enabled for popular content streaming services (eg. Netflix, BBC iPlayer),
and there are free filtering options provided by all mobile phone providers. Unfortunately,
none of these parental controls are enabled by default. Go to parentalcontrols-on.org for
an interactive guide on how to switch on parental controls for any device/service your family
uses.
Mobile Phones A reminder that mobile phones should not be on or out while on
school premises, this includes the driveway. Pupils must hand in
their phone at the start of each day and collect it at the end of the
day from the office. If a pupil is seen with a mobile phone it will be
confiscated and held until a parent can pick it up.
Free School Meals To apply for free school meals, please access our secure service at
www.link2ict.org/fsm. A link to this site is available on the school
website home page. There is a form to complete, but once this has
been done, there will no longer be any need to bring proof of
entitlement into school as it updates when circumstances change.
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Notices Security and Parking
All visitors must display their pass for entrance to the site. Our Concierge will help you if
you have an appointment in school.
We respectfully request that you observe the restrictions on parking very close to school
and consider the needs of local residents. I have also been asked to remind parents that
their daughters must wear seatbelts in all vehicles including the community buses. Where
girls do not observe this law, they are putting themselves and others at risk – fines may be
enforced by the Police. Thank you for your co-operation in not driving into school at the
beginning and end of the day, thereby ensuring the safety of our own pupils and those of
other local schools. If there are special circumstances, please contact the school to make an
application for a vehicle pass – hopefully such circumstances will be rare. The community
transport park in school, to avoid causing an obstruction on Bromford Road, leaving more
parking space for other parents. If you have authorisation to enter and leave the school by
car, please be considerate to avoid congestion in the narrow section of the driveway.
Early Arrivals & Breakfast Club
We open at 8:00am each day. Pupils must sign in and have parental agreement to be in
school at this time. All other pupils may come into school from 8:35am to fill water bottles
and go to lockers and toilets ready to start registration promptly at 8:45am. The Out of Hours
Learning programme (OOHL) also supports a regular Homework Club at the end of the day.
The Homework Club runs Monday-Thursday from 3:20pm-4:20pm. See below for a list of
activities and clubs that run before school, during lunchtimes and after school.
List of Activities/Clubs
Activity/Club Day and Time Room Activity/Club Day and Time Room
Breakfast Daily, 08:00-08:35 Lower iLZ Homework Mon-Thu, 15:20-16:30 OLC
Y7/8 ICT Daily, 12:30-13:10 OLC/UiLZ Basketball Tuesday 15:30 – 16:30 L Gym
Y9 ICT Daily, 12:30-13:10 Room 1 Choir Tuesday 15:30 – 16:30 Music
Y10/11 ICT Daily, 12:30-13:10 IT1/IT2 Y11 English Wednesday 15:20 – 16:20 iLZ
Film Club Tue-Thu, 12:30-13:10 PL Lab Football Wednesday 15:30 – 16:30 L Gym
Art Tuesday and
Wednesday Lunchtimes
A1/A2 Netball Thursday 15:30 – 16:30 L Gym
Badminton Wednesday Lunchtimes Upper Gym Targeted
Science
Monday, Wednesday and
Thursday until 16:00
Dhol Drums Tuesday Lunchtimes Music
Meditation Thursday Lunchtimes PL Lab
Targeted
Science
Wednesday Lunchtimes LL Lab
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Aims
Pupils, Families, Staff and Governors working together in consultation to help every pupil
make expected, better than expected or exceptional progress by:
Ensuring pupils achieve a minimum of 96% attendance and are not late
Rewarding personal endeavour and community commitment
Helping pupils overcome challenges in their work and behaviour
Supporting physical health and emotional resilience
Developing teaching and curriculum courses for high quality learning
Developing the site, building and resources for best value 21st century learning
Calendar Dates
Date Event Monday 20/02/2017 to Friday 24/02/2017
Half Term Holiday
Tuesday 28/02/2017 Year 9 Curriculum Evening
Thursday 02/03/2017 World Book Day
Monday 06/03/2017 Year 9 Parent’s Consultation Evening National Careers Week Starts
Wednesday 08/03/2017 International Women’s Day
Friday 10/03/2017 Non-Uniform Day – Dress as though you are going to work
Monday 13/03/2017 Science Week Starts
Thursday 16/3/2017 Curriculum and Achievement Day Year 9 Big Bang Science Trip
Friday 17/03/2017 HHCP Naats and Nasheeds
Wednesday 22/03/2017 to Friday 24/03/2017
HHCP Mother’s Day Gift Shop
Monday 27/03/2017 Spring Interform Competition Week Governing Body Meeting
Monday 03/04/2017 Year 10 Parents’ Consultation Evening
Thursday 06/04/2017 Non Uniform Day (Charity TBC) Music Performance (TBC)
Friday 07/04/2017 Staff Training Day
Monday 10/04/2017 to Friday 21/04/2017
Easter Holiday
Monday 24/04/2017 Governing Body Meeting
Wednesday 26/04/2017 EAL Parent Briefing
Thursday 27/04/2017 SEND Parent Briefing
Friday 28/04/2017 Staff Training Day
HODGE HILL GIRLS SCHOOL
Bromford Road, Birmingham, B36 8EY Phone: 0121 464 3094. Web: www. hodgehgs.bham.sch.uk
@HodgeHillGirls Hodge Hill Girls School